Eric Ramsey, 30, of Mount Pleasant, Mich., was killed by police Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, after he abducted and later raped a Central Michigan University student. / Courtesy Michigan Department of Corrections

by David Jesse, Detroit Free Press

by David Jesse, Detroit Free Press

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -One last Facebook status update capped a bizarre night of terror in central Michigan during which police say a prison parolee abducted a college student at gunpoint, raped her, set fire to a house, stole a flatbed truck and rammed three police cars.

That was the message Eric Ramsey posted from his cellphone to his Facebook page apparently just moments before he was shot to death by a police officer, ending a crime spree that started in Mount Pleasant, Mich., and stretched 85 miles north to the Grayling area.

"I've been in this community for 35 years," said Central Michigan University Police Chief Bill Yeagley. "I don't remember anything like this."

Police said it started around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday as a senior from the Grand Rapids area walked to her Ford Escape, which was parked in a lot just outside of the Student Activities Center in the middle of Central Michigan's Mount Pleasant campus.

As she got near her car, the woman was approached by Ramsey, who brandished a gun and forced her into her SUV, police said. Ramsey told the victim he randomly picked her, according to police.

He directed her to drive to a house just off campus, where she was bound and raped. Police said the house was owned by Ramsey's mother, with whom he had been living.

Ramsey -- who was paroled last summer after serving a five-year prison stint for felonious assault -- then got the victim back in the SUV, along with two cans of gas. As they drove down the road, he told her he was going to kill her, the woman later told police.

She jumped out and ran to a nearby house, where she pounded on the door and was let inside. The woman and three people inside all went into the bathroom, locked the door, and called 911.

While they were on the phone, police said, Ramsey poured gas around the house and lit it on fire. He then took off.

Officers responded quickly. The homeowner also showed up. The fire was put out.

Meanwhile, Ramsey, 30, was headed north.

Around 2:50 a.m., state police investigated a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot in Gaylord. The vehicle -- the victim's SUV -- rammed the troopers' car three times, "rendering it inoperable," the state police said in a release.

The SUV drove off. The state police followed the vehicle's tracks to an elk ranch, owned by the city of Gaylord. The tracks went through an enclosure at least 8 feet high.

Troopers, now on foot, went about a mile into the ranch before finding the SUV stuck in the snow, the release said.

They followed footprints to Arrow Sanitation, where they found vehicle tracks leading out. They put out a description for a possible stolen truck.

Around 4:15 a.m., troopers were parked just north of Frederic, when a one-ton flatbed truck came up behind them without headlights on and smashed into their patrol vehicle. The truck then turned around and rammed a Crawford County sheriff's car, causing the vehicles to get wedged together. The deputy, after being briefly pinned inside, got out and fatally shot Ramsay as he sat in the cab, authorities said.

The victim is safe and with her family, police said.

"I believe she made all the right choices," Yeagley said. "She's the true hero in this."

The campus community is on edge, several students said.

"It's just the randomness of it right on campus that has everyone upset," said sophomore Mary Williams, 19, of Detroit.

Central Michigan offers escorts for students at night, more than 15,000 last semester.

"We want them to feel safe as they travel campus," Yeagley said. "This is not something any of us would expect to happen on our campus."

Ramsey had a violent history.

He served a prison term from July 2007 to July 2012 on a conviction for assault with the intent to cause great bodily harm less than murder. He had previous convictions for malicious destruction of fire department or police property, assaulting, resisting/obstructing a police officer, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

The parole board released him at his minimum sentence time, Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said. During his time in several Michigan prisons, he was classified as a minimum security prisoner. He had six minor misconduct tickets during his time, not enough to increase his security ranking, Marlan said.

He served his last three months at a boot camp outside of Chelsea in Washtenaw County.

After he was released, he was living with his mother.

He wore a tether, which allowed authorities to make sure he was in by his curfew, Marlan said. The tether was removed Nov. 9, and Ramsey had to check in with his parole officer twice a month.

"Get off tether on the 9th b-day on the 12th," he wrote on his Facebook wall on Oct. 24.

His last parole check-in occurred Jan. 8. He passed a breathalyzer test and a drug test, as he had the entire parole process. He was employed in a full-time job and following all the conditions of his parole, Marlan said.

"We don't know what possessed him to do that. We may never find out," Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said.